Difficult start
I started preparing for the PMP in October 2013. I tried to read the PMBOK guide but I could not read more than a couple of pages before my mind started drifting away, and to be honest I had difficulties getting the big picture.
I started looking for alternatives and based on the numerous positive comments I found on the internet I purchased the PMP PrepCast together with the formula guide and the exam simulator. Watching the PrepCast things started to make sense to me. I watched the PrepCast on my laptop, summarizing the essence of each process on a  mind map. This helped my structuring my ideas and forced me to stay attentive. Besides the PrepCast, my mind maps and the PMBOK guide I also had Rita’s book and a spreadsheet with the process areas, process groups, processes, ITTOs that I could filter to quickly find which process produced a specific output as an input to which processes and so on. 

Lots of sample tests
Six weeks before the exam I started with free (Oliver F. Lehmann, PMP Bank, free.exam-simulator.com, examcentral) and paid (PMP Exam Simulator, Simplilearn) tests and answered more than 2’000 questions. I carefully reviewed all results; re-reading relevant sections of the PMBOK guide were my answers had been wrong. This not only helped me in improving my knowledge and understanding but also in becoming accustomed to the different styles of questions. 

The real exam
By the time I took the real exam in May 2014 I had studied close to 200h.
The real exam was almost exclusively composed of situational questions, and luckily hardly any ITTO questions. Regarding the formulas there were just a couple of questions where you really had to apply a formula. 

After 3h I had answered all questions and for a moment I was about to hit the “End Exam” button but then decided to spend the last hour reviewing all the questions and I indeed found some questions which I hadn’t read properly the first time. Finally I clicked the “End Exam” button 2 Minutes before time ran out.  

What has worked for me
There is no silver bullet, preparing for the PMP implies a lot of studying. Here what has worked for me:

Talk about your project with your family/your partner – preparing for the exam will take a lot of your spare time and you will need their support

There is no learning technique that fits everyone, choose one and change if it doesn’t work

Watch the PrepCast attentively, not just as a background noise

Fix your exam as soon as you can reasonably estimate how long it will take you to be ready for the exam

Take plenty of test exams and review your answers, re-read your books, your notes where wrong or in doubt

Good luck!